Your Not Perfect Anymore
by princessxkissxofxdeath101
Summary: Natalie's life was perfect, until one day everything changes. Will her best friend be able to hold her together?
1. Prologue

Hope that you guys like this story. I've got a lot of big plans for it. I'm just going to put up a prologue and if you're interested, then review! If I get enough good reviews from it then I will make another chapter

Prologue

My life was…oh what do you call it? Perfect. Yes, I know what you're thinking, how could my life be perfect? Nobody's life is perfect, but mine is. I lived in a big, two story house at the edge of a pretty big town with my mom, dad, sister, and brother.

My dad was a lawyer and a workaholic, but he still brought home a lot of money from work and he had enough time to spend time with us. My mom was a stay at home mom. She made sure that we were fed, dressed, and bathed before we went out the door for school. I went to a school called Muskogee High School. My class was only about 80 kids, so we were able to concentrate better in class. I was on the honor roll, the swimming, basketball, soccer, and gymnastics team. I was really popular, not to be all snobby and what not, but I was. On the weekends I would always be somewhere with my friends.

After school I was either at a practice for a sports team or I was studying. Sundays, Fridays, and Tuesdays, were family days. The whole family would take walks, go to the beach, or even go bowling. See? My life was perfect. Nothing went wrong, everything was absolutely perfect…..until one day.


	2. MissI'mNotGoingToTheParty

**Hope that you guys like this chapter! I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

"Natalie!!! Time for breakfast!! Wake up!!" her mother yelled from downstairs. I groaned and lifted my head up. "Okay!! Be right down!!" I yelled back and I lifted the sheets off of myself and sat up.

I went over to the curtains and drew them back and opened my door to the balcony. I always did that, just so that I could hear the sounds of…well…nature I guess. I went over to my private bathroom; I had already picked out my outfit the night before. A short denim skirt with leggings, just so that it was school appropriate, and a brown, lacey shirt.

I quickly put on my clothes and looked in the mirror, not bad, it was a Friday so I would probably be doing something with my family after school and this is the perfect outfit! I fixed my hair quickly; my hair wasn't really a big issue. It was naturally blonde and naturally straight. I quickly put on some make-up, grabbed my backpack, and I ran downstairs.

My mom looked up and smiled at me when I came downstairs. I looked a lot like her, blonde hair and blue eyes.  
"Honey, you might want to hurry up and eat, you don't want to keep Richard waiting." She said as she gave me some pancakes and syrup.

Richard was our driver; he basically drove us anywhere we wanted to go. Well, he was basically my driver now that my siblings, Amy and Ryan, were now driving.

Ryan and Amy were already heading out the door. "Bye mom, bye Natalie." They both said as they headed out the door to their cars.

I quickly hurried up and ate my breakfast. "Bye mom, see you tonight." I said as I kissed her on the cheek and headed out the door.

Richard was there waiting for me at the car. "Hello Miss Natalie." He said in his usual polite voice.

I smiled. "Hello Richard." I said as I got into the car.

On car rides I usually try to get as much sleep as possible. I put in my earphones and turned up my IPod on full blast. I closed my eyes and slowly fell asleep.

"Miss Natalie, we have arrived." Richard said as I opened my eyes and looked out the window. I grabbed my bag and gave him a smile. "Thank you, see you after school." I said as I got out of the car.

I walked into the school; the hallways were packed with students trying to get to their classes and lockers. I found my locker and opened it. I got all of my stuff for my first class and as I closed the locker, a grinning; four pigtailed girl was in my face.

Temari was one of the most popular girls in the school, and she was also my best friend.

"Natalie!!!!" she screamed as she hugged me. "I haven't seen you in forever!!!" she screamed again.

I returned the hug and laughed. "Um…Temari….we saw each other yesterday." I said.

Temari stepped back. "Well….either way…it seems like it's been forever!!" she said excitingly.

I started walking down the hall to my first class. "So what makes you so happy today??" I asked, wondering why in the world she could be so hyper at this time of morning.

"Well….Shikamaru's going to be at the party tonight!!!" she whispered excitingly.

I laughed. "What party?" I usually knew about all the social gatherings but I never heard of a party that was going on tonight.

"Oh geez Natalie, I've been talking about this party for the past two weeks!! It's supposed to be the biggest party of the year!" She clapped her hands together and jumped around.

"Well, I guess that I'm missing the biggest party of the year."

Temari stopped jumping and put her hands on her hips. "Why not? You are so going!!"

"I can't, its family night remember? Plus, I haven't spent any time with my dad this week. He's always at work now."

Temari rolled her eyes. "You coming whether you like it or not."

I smirked. "Yeah right, we'll talk about this later." I said as I walked into my classroom.

**Time Skip= Lunch**

"So are you going to the party?" a pink haired girl asked.

I groaned and slammed my head down on the table. "No!! I'm not going Sakura!!" I said.

Temari laughed. "Yes you are, right Tenten?"

"This is the biggest party of the year. You'll be committing social suicide if you don't go!" Tenten said.

I sighed. "Hinata will you please help me out with this?" I asked.

Hinata played with her fingers. "Um…..guys you shouldn't bug Natalie like this." She said quietly.

Sakura sighed. "Your right, you don't have to if you don't want to." She said.

"Hello ladies!!" said the most annoying blonde headed boy that I'll ever meet, Naruto.

Naruto came over with his friends, Saskue, Neji, and Shikamaru. They were the most popular boys in the school.

Naruto came over and sat down next to Hinata and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks hon." He said as he took a bite out of her sandwich.

I punched his shoulder. "You're such a pig!"

He nodded. "And proud to be one!" he said with his mouth full of food.

Saskue sat down next to Sakura, Neji sat down next to Tenten, and Shikamaru…well…awkwardly sat down next to Temari. They were all together, except for Shikamaru and Temari, but Temari has the BIGGEST crush on him.

Saskue smirked at me. "So, we overheard that you're not going to the party. What a shame. You could have actually met someone, maybe even have gotten a boyfriend." He said.

I laughed. "I don't need a boyfriend! I'm perfectly fine being single." And I was….

"What about that Gaara boy? Didn't you use to go out with him?" Neji asked.

"No way! We were just friends." I said as I looked behind me and stared at the red headed boy who was sitting alone at the table. Gaara use to be my best friend two years ago, but then I got popular and he….well…didn't.

"Hn." Shikamaru said as he rubbed his temples. "You guys are giving me a headache." He said.

The bell rang and everybody got up. "I'll think about going to the party alright?" I said to Temari, Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten.

"Good and you better be there girl!"She said as she headed off to her class.

I laughed, like I was going to get out of family night.

**Hope that you guys liked the chapter! Read and review! **


	3. MissIGuessI'llSneakOut

**Sorry for taking so long to post!! I had a TON of projects and stuff before the holidays, and then of course there was Christmas, but now I'm back on track! I hope that you enjoy this chapter! Read and Review!**

**I DO NOT own Naruto or any of its characters.**

"Mom, I'm home!" I yelled as I opened the door and put my bags down. Richard came scrambling in after me, carrying all of my books. "You can just put that right there." I said as I pointed to the chair.

"Yes Miss Natalie." He said as he tried his best to carefully put them down.

My mom came walking in with a plate of two freshly cooked brownies and a glass of milk. "Here you go sweetie, they just came out of the oven." She said as she handed the plate to me.

I could smell the sweet scent of the brownies. "Thanks mom, so what are we doing for our annual Friday Family Night?"

Mom sighed, that wasn't a good sign. Oh no, Ryan is probably going to take us to paint ball again!

"Your father is coming home late tonight, so we will have to do family night some other time." She said as she went back into the kitchen.

I raised my eyebrows. That was weird; we usually never skip a family night. I didn't see dad this morning either, what was wrong? Wait a second; if we aren't going to have family night, then I could go to the party! Temari and everybody else will finally stop nagging me about it!

I ate my brownies and milk quickly and took them into the kitchen. Mom was just wrapping the leftover brownies and putting them in the pantry. "Hey mom, since that Dad isn't going to be here tonight, can I go to a party?" I asked.

Mom went to wash the dishes. "No."

I was shocked. She never says no!

"But…why not? There's not going to be any alcohol or anything there…I'll be home by..."

"I SAID NO!!! YOU ARE NOT TO LEAVE THIS HOME DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!?!" mom yelled.

I froze. That was weird, why wouldn't she let me go to the party? I ALWAYS went to social gatherings and she NEVER said no. There had to be something wrong, maybe this is about dad not being here for Friday Family Night, but who cares? So what if we miss one? Why was she acting like this? I decided that it was best for me to not question it, due to her sudden outburst.

I slowly turned around and walked back upstairs with my books. Oh well, I guess that I'll have to deal with Temari's nagging for a couple of hours.

There really was nothing to do, so I turned on my music and began working on my weekend homework. Kakashi gave us an essay about fault lines and earthquakes that was due on Sunday.

A couple hours later my phone rang. I looked out my window. What it's already dark!? I checked my clock; it was already 8:00! I had been working on this essay for three hours!?! I felt like such a nerd, but I answered my phone.

"Hello?"

"Natalie! Where are you?? The party is about to start, it's at Saskue's house! Why aren't you here?!" Temari said as I heard the music start from the other end of the phone.

I sighed. "Sorry, I can't go."

"What do you mean you can't go!?!"

"My mom won't let me."

"That's strange, she always says yes!!"

"I know, I thought so too, but it doesn't matter. I'll see you at school!!"

"Your coming to this party whether you like it or not!!"

"How can I do that?"

"Um…sneak out??"

"...Bye Temari."

"No wait y…."

I hung up and turned off my phone so that she wouldn't call me again. Sneak out!? That's so absurd! I couldn't do that!!

I weighed my options. Dad's not going to be home, Ryan is probably practicing his guitar, Amy is probably texting her boyfriend, and Mom is probably sitting in bed with a glass of wine watching TV.

I sighed. I could not believe that I was going through with this!! I jumped off my bed and looked through my closet. I decided on a short, black, lacey dress that Amy got me for my birthday this year. I quickly reapplied my makeup and put on my heels.

I heard my door open and I froze. I was busted already?! I hadn't even gotten out of the house yet!

Ryan came in and smiled at me. "Sneaking out I see, good choice." He said as he smirked.

I sighed in relief. "You won't tell mom will you??"

Ryan shook his head. "Nope, if you don't tell mom that I'm going out too."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to help out Dad."

I was confused. "Then why can't I tell mom? What's the big deal? You're going to help dad."

"He said that I couldn't tell her or she'll freak out."

I would have questioned some more, but I had a party to go to. "Fine, I won't tell her."

"Thanks, I'll see you tonight." He said as he hopped out of my window.

I rolled my eyes, show off.

I grabbed my purse. I walked out of my room. I crept down the hall, looked into my sister's room. Just as I thought, she was texting her boyfriend and giggling. I tried not to laugh as I sneaked past my parent's room.

Mom was in bed with a glass of wine and watching a romantic comedy, just as I thought. I knew my family too well.

I walked downstairs and then stopped as I was about to open the door. Crap!! I can't drive!!

I saw Richard come out of the kitchen and I got an idea.

"Hey Richard, can you drive me to Saskue's house?" I asked with my puppy dog eyes.

Richard chuckled. "I see that you're sneaking out. Oh how I wish to be young again. Oh alright, but just this once.

"Thank you so much!" I gave him a huge hug.

I hopped into his car and waited impatiently as he pulled into the driveway.

"Pick me up at 12 okay?"

"Okay."

I got out of the car and walked into Saskue's house.

The house was flooded with people. There were streamers everywhere and the music filled my ears.

"Natalie!!" I heard four girls scream.

I turned around and saw Temari, Hinata, Tenten, and Sakura were sitting in a big group on the couches.

I smiled and walked over to sit in one of the chairs.

"I knew you would come!" Hinata said excitedly.

"Oh my gosh, is that Gaara over there?" Tenten asked as she pointed to the red headed guy that was standing there by himself awkwardly.

Temari looked over and laughed. "What a loner. I wonder why he even bothered coming here, he doesn't have any friends." She said as she laughed.

I felt sorry for Gaara. He was really nice and sweet. We use to hang out all the time in junior high, but now things were different.

I looked over and saw Naruto, Saskue, Shikamaru, and Neji talking in a group. Naruto whispered something to Saskue, who whispered it to the DJ. A slow song started playing and Naruto walked right up to Hinata.

"Hinata, would you like to dance?" he asked with a cheesy grin.

Hinata blushed. "Um…I can't dance." She said softly.

"Oh who cares!" he said as he grabbed her and they started dancing.

Saskue and Neji came up at the same time and grabbed their girlfriends and they started dancing.

Temari looked at me. "We really need to get boyfriends." She said.

I saw Shikamaru walking towards us. I laughed.

"What?" Temari asked.

I nodded my head over to Shikamaru, who was hesitantly walking over to Temari.

"Um…Temari would you like to dance?" He muttered.

"Oh would I!!" she said as she dragged him over to the dance floor.

I laughed, but then sort of felt awkward. I had nobody to dance with; everybody was dancing with their dates, except for a couple of nerds who dared to come to this party.

"Um….excuse me," A deep voice said.

I looked up and saw Gaara standing over me.

"Uh…would you like to dance?" he said awkwardly.

I didn't want to hurt his feelings, and I also didn't want to be caught dead with somebody that had such a low social status like him. Oh well, I would explain to the girls that I felt bad for him.

I nodded. "Sure."

He seemed surprised, but he took my hand and led me to the dance floor. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around me, they were surprisingly warm. I put my hands lightly on his shoulders and we sway from side to side.

I didn't really realized how much he had changed. He was a lot more muscular, even more muscular then Saskue, who was a star athlete. Instead of his hair combed neatly like it had been in 8th grade, it was messy and partly covered his eyes.

"Wow, you really have changed." I said.

"I guess that I have, but so have you…" he said as he trailed off.

I sighed. "Yea, I guess so. What happened to us? We used to be best friends."

"You became popular and didn't want to hang out with me anymore because I wasn't cool enough." He said simply.

I was shocked. "Gaara that is not true!"

"Yes it is Natalie and you know it!" he said.

I sighed. I guess he was right, I did abandon him. I felt so bad now.

"Gaara, I'm really sorry, I never meant to hurt your feelings." I said.

"It's alright, I got over it."

The music stopped, he let go of me. He gave me a strange look and walked out of the party.

Temari ran up to me. "Why were you dancing with Gaara!?!" she almost screamed at me.

By this point Hinata, Tenten, Sakura had already joined our little discussion.

I shrugged. "Because, I felt sorry for him,"

"Oh, well then lets party!!" Temari screamed.

For the last two hours I had a blast. We danced, gossiped, and flirted with some cute football players, which Saskue, Naruto, and Neji did not seem to like very much.

"Miss Natalie!"

I turned around and I saw Richard running in with tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong?!?!" I said as I froze, I wasn't in trouble was I??

"You have to go!" He said as he dragged me out of the party before I had a chance to say goodbye to my friends.

What was wrong?!

**Hope that you liked it! Read and Review! **


	4. MissICan'tBelieveThisIsHappening

**Hope that you guys like this chapter!! Read and review!! I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.**

When Richard got to the house, there were police cars everywhere. He parked beside the road and let me out. Before I could even question him I was surrounded my news people.

"Natalie I am so sorry for your loss." The news reporter said as he pushed the microphone in my face.

I pushed it down. "What are you talking about?" I asked as I tried to push past the people.

The news reporter was shocked. "Don't you know??" he asked as more people shouted more questions.

"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!!" I heard Amy call as she went up to me. Her eyes were all puffy and red. She was crying? What was going on here!! She grabbed my arm and dragged me into the house.

Policemen were flooding the living room and kitchen. I saw mom, she was talking to a detective and crying.

I looked at Amy who began crying. "Amy what happened?!?" I almost screamed.

Before Amy could answer a man in a brown coat came up to me. "Excuse me ma'am I need to ask you a few questions. When was the last time you saw your brother and father?" he asked.

I froze; why the heck would I need to answer that question?! Oh no….it can't be.

"Um…I saw dad yesterday and I saw my brother just a few hours ago….why?"

"Shut up! Stop asking her questions!!" my mom screamed as she pulled my arm and dragged me into the office.

"Mom, what's going on!?"

She burst into tears. "Dad and Ryan were…." She trailed off.

"Were what mom!?!?"

"…murdered…"

I froze, the room was spinning, and I felt numb. Murdered……..what!? This couldn't be happening. I started crying as I realized something.

"It's my fault!!" I screamed as I went to my knees.

"No it's not honey…you didn't do anything…"

"Yes I did!! It's my fault that Ryan's dead!! He said that he was going to help out dad with something…and he made me promise that I wouldn't tell you or you would freak out!! In return he said that he wouldn't tell you that I snuck out and went to a party!!" I screamed.

Mom paused. I could tell that she was trying to stay strong for me.

"Oh honey…it's alright….it's not your fault…" she said.

I got up and ran to my room. I had to get away from here, from these people, from this world. I slammed the door and lay down on my bed and cried.

It felt like a huge hole had been ripped out of me.

Why would anybody want to kill my dad….and Ryan? They hadn't done anything wrong!! My dad was so nice and caring; he used to read me a story every night when I was little. My brother was always nice; he very respectful and always had good manners, even though he was a teenager.

I just couldn't believe that they were gone…

**Time Skip=Monday**

I walked downstairs, staring at nothing. I looked around and envisioned my brother and my father eating at the table and having their usually conversation, then smiling up at me once they heard my presence.

Today, nobody was sitting at the table; my mom was nowhere to be seen, and neither was my sister. These past few days detectives have been in and out of the house, questioning us about….what happened.

I ate my breakfast slowly, wanting to waste as much time as possible. I did NOT want to go to school. Yesterday all of my friends had called, probably saying that their sorry for my loss. I got really mad after the 15th call from Temari and threw my phone at the wall. It broke.

I washed my dishes and put them in the sink. I didn't bother saying goodbye to my mom, she probably didn't care. She was an emotional wreck now, but she had a right too. I just wish that she tried to stay strong…for me and Amy's sake.

I walked outside and started walking to school. My mom fired Richard because she was having a mental breakdown and also because he let me sneak out. I felt horrible and I sent him an apology card, not that it would help.

I finally got to school. I took a deep breath and opened the doors. It felt like the world had stopped. Everybody had stopped having a conversation and stared at me.

I wanted to disappear.

I hung my head low and concentrated on walking.

I finally got to my locker.

"Hey Natalie…I'm sorry…." I heard Temari say.

I grabbed my books, slammed the locker shut, and walked past her. I didn't care if it hurt her, I just didn't want to hear it. It only made me feel worse.

I ignored everybody that tried to talk to me, I didn't care what they had to say, and they all said the same thing.

I tried to concentrate on the lesson instead, it was better than thinking of…well…everything.

I dreaded lunch time, that's where EVERYBODY is.

I quickly got my lunch and I got out of line. I heard people muttering to other people. I really wanted to smack them and tell them off, but I held my tongue.

I looked around and I saw the gang sitting at the table. Most of them looked down when they saw me, but Temari smiled and patted the empty seat next to her.

I shook my head and sat at an empty table, showing that I didn't want to be bothered.

I ate my lunch slowly, trying not to think. Gosh I wish I was brain dead.

"Hey." I heard a familiar voice say.

I looked up and saw Gaara carrying a paper bag with his lunch in it.

I looked back down.

He sat down.

"I……" he decided not to say it. Good choice.

"I guess I shouldn't say that I'm sorry."

"Yea, you shouldn't" I muttered. I pushed my food aside; I didn't want to eat any more.

"You know…I know how you feel…" he said.

I glared at him. "No you don't! You don't know anything! Now shut up and go away!"

I heard him sigh. "My parents died two years ago…." He said.

I was shocked. His parents died? Two years ago was when I stopped hanging out with him.

"How come I didn't know about it?"

"Because I didn't want to make a scene, but I did separate myself from the world. As your friends call me, I'm a loner." He said simply.

"That's not true…you really aren't."

"I know I am, but I don't want you to be a loner. I'm going to help you get through this."

I was surprised. "You want to…help me?"

"Yeah, and the first step is eating." he pushed the food in front of me.

I sighed. I didn't want a whole speech about eating disorders. I began to eat.

"Thats a good girl." He said as he patted my head.

That's what dad always did whenever I did something right. My brother did it too, but only in a sarcastic remark.

The memory made me sad. I looked down and tried not to cry.

Gaara sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." he said.

I shrugged. "It's okay."

The bell rang and I got up and left, not even saying goodbye. There were tears in my eyes.

I just couldn't believe they were gone…

**Hope that you liked the chapter!! **** Read and Review! **


	5. MissI'veLostEverything

**So sorry for the delay! I moved to a different country, so, yeah. Hope that you like this chapter! **

Everything was morphed together, I didn't know what day it was, and honestly, I didn't care. All of a sudden, everything that I cared about, gossip, boys, school, didn't matter anymore to me. It was like it was ripped out of my chest.

I walked downstairs, as I usually did, I managed to look at the calendar that was hanging on the refrigerator; somebody was crossing off the days. It was the 15th, and dad and Ryan….died…on the 1st. Had it already been that long?

I looked at the table, as usual, there was no breakfast. I looked in the cupboard; there was barely anything in there. Since I never saw mom or Amy, I'd have to make a long walk to the supermarket. Amy would always leave early in the morning, and come back late at night. I didn't know what she was doing but apparently, she had recently joined a dance team and that had her booked.

Good for her, she was dealing with this the right way. Unlike me and mom, I excluded myself from the outside world, and mom, well; I don't know how she's doing.

I heard footsteps and I spun around, seeing my mom walk, at a snail's pace, down the steps. I looked at her in surprise, for the first time, my mom actually looked old. She was definitely skinnier then before, there were dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep. Unlike her usually bright face that was always full of makeup, I could see wrinkles around her face.

I got nervous; mom was in worse shape than me! She was starving herself! I went over to my mom and smiled. "Hi." That was the first word that I've said in a long time.

My mom looked at me; I could see pain and grief in her eyes. I looked down immediately, trying to get that picture of Ryan and dad out of my head. She didn't say a word to me as she sat down at the kitchen table, staring into space.

I got out some cereal and made her a bowl, pouring some for myself too. I put the cereal in front of mom, she pushed it away. I frowned, "Mom, you have you eat. Please." I said as I pushed the bowl in front of her again.

She shook her head, pushing the bowl away again. I grabbed the spoon and got a spoonful of cereal, pressing it against her mouth, though she didn't open it.

I could tell that she got annoyed. She swatted the spoon away, making the spoon fly out of my hand. She knocked the bowl over the table, making it break. She swiftly got up and walked back up the stairs. I knew that I wouldn't be seeing her for a while.

I looked at the mess that my mom made and quickly cleaned it up. I ate my cereal quickly and headed out the door.

As I got to school I looked around and almost smiled. People had finally stopped talking about what had happened and decided to go on with the rest of their lives, which was talking about something more interesting.

I walked to my locker as I spotted Temari. I felt bad for completely shutting her out of my life; she was really a good friend. I tried to smile as she looked in my direction. A weird expression came over her face, as if wondering why I would even dare to look at her. That was the face that she gave to nerds that tried to say hello. She slammed her locker shut and walked away.

I just stood there with my head down. I had lost everything, my dad, my brother, my relationship with my family, and even my popularity. I was down at the bottom of the social status, a place that I would have never expected myself to be at.

The lessons were a bore; I barely listened in class anymore, only scribbled down random letters and numbers. In math class my teacher handed me my math test that we took last week, she shook her head as she continued handing the rest out. I looked down at the paper, only to see a big fat F staring back up at me. I sighed, so much for the honor roll. For some reason though, I didn't care.

Lunch was the worst, usually I would always enjoy lunch, getting to be able to hang out with my friends and share the latest gossip. Now, I sat by myself, and being by myself was the worst thing possible. I had no choice but to think back to that night, to actually try and remember what had happened, most of the time it would usually bring me to tears.

I looked over at the lunch table where the gang sat, they were all talking a laughing, and Naruto was of course stuffing his face. I frowned when I saw 9 people at the table instead of 8. A perky little girl that looked like she could be on the cover of a magazine was sitting in the spot between Hinata and Temari, my spot. I sighed, they had already replaced me.

I scanned the room, the cafeteria was pretty full, there were no empty tables, the only one that I saw that had one person sitting there was, well, who do you think was sitting there?

I sighed; I hadn't talked to Gaara for days. I felt bad because all he wanted to do was help, even though that like many times before, I ditched him.

I walked over to his table and sat down. He looked up and stared at me in surprise. "….Hi." I said as I bit into my sandwich that I had made from home. How pathetic was that? I was actually making my own lunch.

Gaara smiled, something that I hadn't seen in a while, somebody smiling at me. "Well look at that, she speaks."

"I'm sorry, for everything. I didn't mean to ditch you."

He smirked, something that I wasn't expecting. "So you finally noticed huh? She's been sitting with them for a while now, I was wondering when you were going to find out that they replaced you. Her names Hannah, she's new to this school." He said.

I turned around and looked at Hannah, finding that she was staring right back at me. She was giving me a smug look, a look of satisfaction. Looks like they already told her about me. I bet she was just happy that they thought that she was better.

I still couldn't believe that I was here, sitting at the loner table, with Gaara. I sighed and looked back at him.

"Hey, you don't want to hang out with that crowd anyways, I was wondering when you were going to realize that they aren't the best group to hang out with. The rumor about me setting fire in the science lab? That's false; it was my lab partner, who turned the gas on to high when the teacher wasn't looking. I saw your little blonde friend Temari giving me a look, and she told the teacher that it was my fault. I got suspended for that." He said.

I stared at him in shock. He didn't do that? Well, it wasn't a surprise that Temari would do something like that. Maybe he was right about hanging with the wrong crowd.

"Well, Temari can be pretty good at lying." I said.

He laughed. "Pretty good? She told the teacher that the fire was black! Even the teachers follow what the 'in' crowd says."

I laughed, something that I hadn't done it a long time.

"So how are your mom and sister taking it?" he asked.

"Taking what?"

Gaara gave me a weird look, as if I'd gone mental.

Then I remembered everything. It hit me like a slap in the face. It was kind of weird; I had suddenly forgotten everything that had happened.

"Oh, well I haven't seen Amy in a couple of days, she recently joined the dance team and she's pretty busy. In my opinion I think that it's just an excuse to waste time. My mom isn't eating, drinking, or even sleeping for that matter, and I can tell that she's getting worse." I said with a sigh.

Gaara reached over and touched my hand; a warm sensation went through my hand and up my arm, which was weird. I looked at him in surprise.

He smiled. "Well, things will get better, I promise. It's just a phase, you all will soon get over it, trust me." He said.

The bell rang and we both stood. He actually gave me a small, awkward hug. "See you tomorrow at lunch." He said as he walked off to his next class.

I smiled, I actually couldn't wait for tomorrow.

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